for this music blog I tend to pick songs that have a very interesting angle about them lyrically but not always musically. this song on the other hand is super interesting in my opinion because it takes up an interesting angle in a traditional pop love song. basically what's happening in this song is the singer is talking about how most people love clowns but the girl he is interested in doesn't like clowns at all. in fact, she is scared of clowns and every time she sees the singer who is a clown, she takes off and leaves when everybody else laughs, and he jokes around at a party while she's there, she doesn't laugh or looks and she just doesn't care, the singer is confused as to why the girl isn't really that interested in him and his antics to the point that it's really making him sad, but he gives the girl a little perspective as to what it's like to be in his shoes by saying it's really not easy to be a clown and be in love with her when she doesn't return the same feelings for him. in fact, in the final verse of the song, we find out that the singer really has no interest in being a clown and is frustrated that the girl he's interested can't seem to understand or see the whole other side of him that's a lot darker then just him being super happy as a clown. the song concludes with the singer who imagines himself pretending to be the clown with a broken heart and then lastly, he begins to think that the girl she's talking to has big dreams of falling in love with a guy but does not even know where to begin as to how she can go about finding that and to start doing that. but what's interesting about this song is that it's sad but the loose ends are not tightened at the end and the ending is not very happy and extremely open ended which makes this song very interesting. and not only that but the production on this track is very much top notch for records of this era from doubled guitar and orchestral chimes in the bridge to a very up front harpsichord throughout the whole record and Gary's doubled lead vocals. and what's also surprising about this record is a lot along with the Wrecking Crew, memebers of the Playboys are also playing on this which included Tommy Tripplehorn and Carl Radle, and David Costell and John West and David Walker a long with memebrs of the Wrecking Crew including Hal Blaine and Tommy Tedesco and Ray Pohlman and Bill Pitman and of course, the head arranger and producer Leon Russell who not only did the Arrangement but also played Harpsichord on this record and many other Playboys songs. this song was cut at United Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard and was cut on June 3rd, 1965